Wheel for vehicles.



E. JONES @L W. S. WILLIAMS.

WHEEL FOR VEHICLES.

APPLIGATION FILED AUG. a, 1912.

.1, 125,025, Patented Jan. 12, 1915.

THE NORRIS PETERS CU.. PHOTO-1.11140.. WASHINGIUN. 4:) C.

EDWIN sroNEs, or GREENEIELD, NEAR HoLYWEnn'wALEs, ANDzWATKIN s.WILLIAMS,

or. LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND:

VVHEEID` FOR VEHICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent;

Application filed August, 1912.v Sera1No,714,124.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it knownthat we, EDWIN JoNEs, a subject of the King of England,residing .-at The Poplars, Greenlield, near Holywell, North Wales, andWATKIN SALUsBURY WIL- LIAMs, a subject of the King of lllngland,residing at 17 Parlzfield road, Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster,England,fhave invented certain new and useful Improvements in orRelating to Wheels for Vehicles, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to wheels for vehicles, but more particularlymotor Vehicles; and has for its object to provide a new or improved formor construction of pneumatic wheel suspension.

It has heretofore been proposed with the object of absorbing road shocksto provide between a wheel felly and an outer tirecarrying rim, hollowindia rubber balls; each of said balls being adapted to lie in partwithin a hemispherical or approximately hemispherical cup or receptaclearranged on the wheel felly, and in part within a similar cup secured tothe inner side of the tirecarrying rim. rlhe present invention relatesto this kind of pneumatic suspension, and is characterized by the use ofcups or receptacles secured to the felly and tire-carrying rim, whichare of greater length in the direction of the circumference of the fellyand rim than breadth; and the employment of inflatable bags or tubes,each of which when inflated, lies in part within and fills acup of thefelly and the opposite cup of the outer rim. A bag or tube preferablycomprises an air container properly constructed of india rubber, andfitted with a suitable air inlet valve, and an outer protective envelopor casing of canvas, or other suitable material. When the wheel isassembled, that is when the rim is in position around the felly, andeach air linated bag or tube is partially inclosed by a pair of saidcups, the edges of the latter are at such distances apart that they willnot meet under the maximum displacements of the floating rim relative tothe felly, due to vibration and road shocks. The ends, and in some casesthe sides also, of said cups are preferably ared or outwardly turned inorder to prevent any projecting or protruding portions of said bags ortubes from being nipped between same, and cut or chafed.

At the sides ofeach .pair ofsaid cups, plates are provided. forthepurpose of protecting:

PatentedJan. 12,1915.'

the bagjor tube lying within same.y Said bags or :tubes may be'inflatedseparately,

or simultaneouslyas desired.

A'drawing illustrating this invention is annexed hereto, .in ywhich nFigure 1 is a view, partly in section of a portion of a wheel (the sideplates referred to being removed); and Fig. 2 yis a transverse sectiondrawn to an enlarged scale as compared with Fig. 1.

a represents lthe wheel spokes, and c the felly; to said felly c a platering or hoop d is secured.

e e indicate metal receptacles or cups of greater length in thedirection of the circumference of the felly than breadth secured byrivets f to said ring d, and g g are similarreceptacles or cups securedto the outer ring or rim 7L by means of rivets 71,' y'

is a rubber tire or tread fitted to rim h.

Within each pair of cups e g a bag or tube is disposed, said bag or tubecomprising a rubber air container Z fitted within an envelop or casing mof canvas or other suit` able material, which is slit in part to permitof the insertion therein of the bag or tube when uninflated, said slitbeing afterward closed by lacing or in other convenient manner.

n represents the inflating valves fitted to the sides of said aircontainers l; alternatively, however, the valve stems may be arranged topass through the felly. Secured by two or more bolts o to each side ofeach cup e is a bag protecting plate p. According to a modifiedarrangement the ends of said cups of the felly and rim respectively maybe arranged to butt together. v In the application of the wheel to motorvehicles the power or drive is transmitted from the felly to the`floating rim through said l n pneumatic bags or tubes.

Having now described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:-

1. ln a vehicle wheel, a felly, a rim, confronting segment-shapedindependent reent air-inflated bags arranged between the confrontingreceptacles, and side plates carried by each receptacle of said fellyand engaging the flanged edges of the confronting receptacles.

2. A vehicle wheel comprising a felly, a rim, receptacles secured tosaid felly and having their longitudinal dimensions eX- tendingcircumferentially of the wheel, receptacles secured to the rini and ofgreater length than the receptacles of said felly, the receptacles ofsaid rim and felly being substantially semi-circular and having theedges thereof flanged; air-inflated bags disposed between saidreceptacles, each of which lies Copies of this patent may be obtainedfor in part within and fill said receptacles, and plates carried by eachfelly receptacle and engaging the flanges of the opposite receptacle ofsaid rim and coperating therewith in providing side inclosures for thebag between said receptacles that permit of said felly shiftingrelatively to said rim.

In testimony whereof we aHiX our signatures in the presence of twowitnesses.

I/Vitnesses:

JOHN I-I. WALKER, J. MCCORMICK.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington,D. C.

